Chennai is Madras the port layered over Mylapore the sacred town: Fort St George and its colonial core on one side, the Kapaleeshwarar gopuram and the Pallava shore temples on the other.
7th c.
Mylapore
Pallava hymns name the Kapaleeshwarar shrine.
1639
Fort St George
The East India Company buys its strip of coast.
1858
Crown rule
The Crown takes Madras over from the Company.
1969
Chennai
Madras state becomes Tamil Nadu; the city later takes its Tamil name.
A Carnatic music and dance festival grown from the Music Academy, founded in 1928 after an all-India music conference held alongside the 1927 Congress session in Madras. Each December dozens of sabhas run concerts from morning to night.
Mid-December to mid-January. Many morning and afternoon concerts are free or cheap; evening slots by senior artists sell out, so buy tickets early. Eat at a sabha canteen between concerts.
3 hrs
The old 'black town' grid of trading castes, Mint Street and Armenian and Jain enclaves, from the Company's 17th-century post to the Madras High Court.
Join a guided walk early on a weekend morning, before the lanes fill.
2.5 hrs
Through one of Chennai's oldest settlements, past the Kapaleeshwarar temple tank, mada streets and old agraharam lanes, with snack stops along the way.
Best in the early evening, when the temple lamps are lit and Jannal Kadai opens.
90 min
One of the world's longest urban beaches, lined with statues of Tamil saints and scholars — the city's front room.
Come at sunset; don't swim.
90 min
Riverside gardens on the Adyar estuary, home since 1882 to the Theosophical Society and its giant banyan.
Limited visiting hours; closed Sundays.
60 min
The city's shopping district, with huge silk-sari stores and the pedestrianized Pondy Bazaar.
Avoid weekends; very crowded.
2 hrs